I know, we’ve all heard the many songs praising vegetables. But do we really know why?  What exactly are all of the specific ways in which they improve health and decrease disease risk? Among the many tremendous benefits, vegetables:

* provide the broadest range of nutrients of any food group
* are rich sources of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates and proteins
* have little fat, and it’s in the form of essential fatty acids
* provide other health-promoting substances, such as carotene and chlorophyll
* are high fibre
* are the richest source of antioxidant compounds, which provide protection against free radical damage in our bodies
* are high in nutritional value, but low in calories

The best way to eat vegetables is in their fresh, raw form because their nutrients are in higher concentrations than when cooked or processed.

When cooking, steam lightly, bake, or lightly stir-fry is best to preserve optimal health-benefitting properties. If boiling your vegetables, save the water to use later in soup stocks or to mix in your smoothies, as this water is full of many vitamins that were leached out of the vegetables during cooking.

 

TIPS for getting more veggies in:

* add a big handful of spinach, kale or other greens in your protein smoothies (you won’t even taste it!)
* grate zucchini, carrots or chop peppers, celery, spinach to add to ground turkey chili, burgers, or any soups
* my favorite: I stock up on fresh veggies when they’re on sale and if they start to get a bit too overripe or start to wilt before my family is able to use them, I throw any or all in my food processor to chop it all up finely; then freeze 1-2 cup servings in sandwich baggies.

I then pull them out to use regularly in smoothies, meatloafs, and soups. You can easily get 6-8 servings of veggies each day and not even realize you’re eating them!

🙂 So easy to get such tremendous health benefits; no supplements, no drugs or medication; just easy-peezy, beautiful vegetables.

Tons of easy and delicious veggies ideas in our many Recipe eBooks!